EFE facts for kids
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| Sociedad Anónima | |
| Industry | News media |
| Predecessor |
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| Founded | 3 January 1939 |
| Founder | Ramón Serrano Súñer |
| Headquarters | Avenida de Burgos, 8-B,
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Spain
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Wire service |
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Number of employees
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1,110 (2019) |
| Parent | SEPI |
Agencia EFE, S.A. is a major Spanish international news agency. It's the biggest Spanish-language news agency and the fourth largest wire service in the world. A wire service is like a giant news gathering and sharing company. EFE was started in 1939 by Ramón Serrano Súñer, who was a government minister at the time.
EFE collects and shares news for newspapers, radio, TV, and the internet. It sends out about three million news stories every year! This is possible because of its 3,000 journalists from 60 different countries. They work 24 hours a day from over 180 cities in 120 countries. EFE has main news desks in Madrid, Bogotá, Cairo (for Arabic news), and Rio de Janeiro (for Portuguese news).
Contents
History of Agencia EFE
How EFE Started
The story of EFE goes way back to 1865. That's when the "Correspondents Center" was created. It was the first news agency in Spain. A journalist named Nilo María Fabra helped start it. In 1870, this center teamed up with a French news agency called Havas. This agreement meant the "Correspondents Center" could share Havas's international news in Spain.
Later, in 1919, the Fabra news agency was formed. Havas became a part-owner of the "Correspondents Center" at that time. Havas left in 1926, and some Spanish banks joined instead.
Founding the Agency
EFE was officially founded in the city of Burgos, Spain, in 1939. Burgos was an important city during that time. Ramón Serrano Suñer, a government minister and brother-in-law of the leader Francisco Franco, asked journalist Vicente Gallego to start the project.
On January 3, 1939, the "Agencia EFE S.A." company was officially set up. The new agency took over the rights and name of the old Fabra agency. This helped EFE join a group of important news agencies around the world. EFE also brought in people and resources from other news agencies like Faro and Febus.
Why the Name "EFE"?
There are different ideas about how EFE got its name. Some people thought the name "EFE" (which is how you say the letter F in Spanish) came from the first letters of the old agencies: Fabra, Febus, and Faro.
However, Ramón Serrano Suñer, the founder, once said that "F" was the first letter of some important political groups at the time. He also mentioned that it was later seen as a link to the leader Franco's first initial. Other people had different ideas, saying it might have come from the building where the agency was located.
First Offices and Services
Agencia EFE's first office was in a modern building in Burgos. Its first president was Celedonio Noriega, and Vicente Gállego Castro was the first managing director.
In 1940, EFE moved its main office to Madrid and opened another office in Barcelona. Over the years, new leaders took charge of the agency. In 1946, EFE started an economic news service called Comtelsa with the British agency Reuters. In 1951, EFE got its first machine to receive photos over a wire.
Growing Globally (1960s-1980s)
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of big growth for EFE.
- In 1965, EFE opened its first office in the Americas in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- The next year, it started sending news to countries across Ibero-America (Latin America and Spain). More offices opened in South America.
- In 1969, EFE began offering small news services in English and French.
- In 1972, EFE worked with other media groups in Central America to create the Central American News Agency (ACAN) in Panama.
- EFE joined the Inter American Press Association in 1979.
In 1976, EFE published its first "Stylebook." This book helped all EFE journalists around the world write news in a consistent way. The EFE Journalism Awards were also created that year, which later became the King of Spain Awards.
In 1981, EFE created the Department of Urgent Spanish (DEU). This department's job was to make sure the Spanish language was used correctly in all news stories. It worked with language experts and journalists.
In 1984, EFE became a part-owner of the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), which is a big European photo news agency. In 1988, EFE launched "EFE Data," which was the first Spanish news database. The EFE Foundation was also created to support journalism studies and offer scholarships. By 1989, EFE was sending its news to customers using satellites.
Modern Era (1990s and 21st Century)
Since the 1990s, EFE has created special news services for different topics:
- In 1990, Efeagro (for food industry news) and Efecom (for business news) were created.
- In 1994, Euroefe (for EU news) was launched.
- In 2010, Efeverde (for environment news) started. Efeverde is well-known for its clear reporting and has its own guide for environmental journalists.
- In 2013, more services were launched, including Efefuturo (science and technology), Efesalud (health), and Efetur (tourism).
EFE also started new awards:
- In 1990, the Silver Ball Award for the best Ibero-American football player.
- In 1998, with UNICEF, they created awards for communication about children's rights.
- In 2004, the Don Quixote Journalism Award was created.
In 1995, EFE received the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. This was a big honor for its work, independence, and fairness.
In 1998, EFE's photo library became a digital archive. In 2000, they started selling and digitizing their old photos and news archives. In 2001, EFE launched a news service in Portuguese for Brazil. That same year, EFE became part of a public company group called SEPI. In 2002, an editing center was opened in Miami to help adapt news for the American market.
In 2004, the ACAN-EFE service for Central America became fully part of EFE. In 2007, the main news desk for the Americas moved from Miami to Bogotá. In 2008, EFE started a news service in Galician from Santiago de Compostela.
In 2014, EFE moved to a new main office in Madrid. That year, the agency celebrated its 75th anniversary. The King and Queen of Spain opened a special exhibition to celebrate this milestone. Many traveling exhibitions and conferences were held in Spain and the Americas.
In 2015, EFE increased its ownership in the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). EFEAgro celebrated 25 years. Exhibitions were held in Buenos Aires and Caracas to mark 50 years of EFE in the Americas.
In 2016, the EFE Museum was opened. In 2017, EFE started a multimedia service in English for Asia with EPA and other European news agencies.
In 2018, the Spanish government recognized EFE's budget as important for public service.
Urgent Spanish Department
In 1980, the Department of Urgent Spanish was created. Its goal was to make sure that Spanish was used correctly and consistently in all news stories. This department included linguists and language experts, along with a special council of members from the Spanish Royal Academy. Their main tool was the Urgent Spanish Manual (MEU), which is a very popular guide for using Spanish. It was first published in 1976.
In 2005, the Department of Urgent Spanish became the Urgent Spanish Foundation, also known as Fundéu BBVA.
See also
In Spanish: Agencia EFE para niños
- List of news agencies
